QU Men's Lacrosse Clinches MAAC Regular Season Title With 8-5 Win Over Monmouth

Saturday, April 23

West Long Branch, NJ

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Monmouth University

QU Men's Lacrosse Clinches MAAC Regular Season Title With 8-5 Win Over Monmouth

4/23/2016 3:55:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Senior attack Ryan Keenan (Oshawa, Ontario - pictured) had four goals and junior goalkeeper Jack Brust (Baltimore, Md.) had six of his eight saves in the second half to lead the Quinnipiac men's lacrosse team to an 8-5 win over Monmouth on Saturday afternoon at Kessler Field, clinching the MAAC regular season title and the right to host the conference tournament.

With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 8-3 overall on the season and 5-0 in the MAAC, while stretching its conference winning streak to nine games, dating back to last season. The Bobcats have a two-game lead in the loss column over Marist with one game to play and have secured the conference regular season championship outright, earning them the right to host the MAAC Tournament on May 5-7 in Hamden. Monmouth, meanwhile, falls to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC.

Keenan got the Bobcats on the board 55 seconds into the game with a goal off a feed from senior midfielder Connor Meth (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and Quinnipiac never trailed from there. The Hawks did pull even twice, the second coming at 4-4 early in the second half, but the Bobcats responded with a 3-0 run to take control.

Sophomore midfielder Ryan Corcoran (Stratford, Conn.) put Quinnipiac in front to stay when he scored in front off a feed from sophomore midfielder Ryan Lawson (Niskayuna, N.Y.) with 10:21 left in the third. Just 10 seconds later, sophomore faceoff specialist Will Vitelli (Milford, Conn.) scored his first collegiate goal after winning the faceoff and slipping a shot in from in front in the cage.

The run stretched to 3-0 when Keenan scored his fourth goal of the game with 7:34 left in the third, after being set up on the doorstep by a perfect feed from sophomore midfielder Anthony Carchietta (Syosset, N.Y.). The Bobcats would not score again until the final minute, but the defense was able to hold firm, allowing only one goal from Dylan Schulte early in the fourth quarter from the Hawks. Sophomore attack Brian Feldman (Canadaigua, N.Y.) finished things off into an empty net with 27 seconds left in transition after Brust made his final save of the day, stopping the Hawks from point blank range.

Quinnipiac took a 4-3 lead in the half with two acrobatic goals in the second quarter. Freshman midfielder Foster Cuomo (Oakville, Ontario) scored into the upper corner as he fell to the turf to put the Bobcats ahead 3-1, and Keenan duplicated the falling goal to finish off his first-half hat trick from almost the same spot.

After scoring 31 goals in the last two MAAC games, the Bobcats ran into a strong defensive team in Monmouth that kept goals to a premium, but Quinnipiac's close defense of seniors Chris Kendall (Dublin, Ohio) and Ryan Lawler (Port Washington, N.Y.) and sophomore Riley Palmer (Oshawa, Ontario) helped the Bobcats match the strong defensive performance. Defensive midfielders Adam Bellamy (St. Catherines, Ontario), Nate Nibbelink (Hampstead, Md.), Joe Murphy (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Jack Hill (Wilmette, Ill.) and David Glynn (Lake Forest, Ill.) also had a big role in the win.

Vitelli ended the game 12-for-16 on faceoffs as he continues to dominate at the X in MAAC play this season (including a 19-for-19 effort against Marist). Vitelli, who also led the Bobcats with seven ground balls, is now 63-of-82 on faceoffs in conference games.

The regular season title is the first for the Bobcats since it shared the Northeast Conference championship in 2011. In its last stint as a MAAC member in lacrosse, Quinnipiac also won an outright championship in 2001 with a perfect 9-0 record, a feat it can duplicate with a 6-0 mark with a win next weekend.

Quinnipiac will be back in action on Saturday for its regular season finale at home against Manhattan at 12 p.m. It will also be Senior Day for the program's six seniors: Connor Devane (Wilton, Conn.), Ryan Keenan (Oshawa, Ontario), Chris Kendall (Dublin, Ohio), Ryan Lawler (Port Washington, N.Y.), Connor Meth (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and Nate Nibbelink (Hampstead, Md.).